U. targets dangerous corner

With several students seriously injured after being struck by vehicles at 33rd and Walnut streets last year, many people have been wary about transiting the intersection. But the University is working to make the high-traffic corner a safer place. Yesterday, University officials met with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and various city officials to begin to blueprint plans for the improvement of pedestrian safety. Pedestrian caution signs will be put up at problem intersections around campus later in the week, according to Victim Support Director Maureen Rush. Within weeks, police will also track cars passing over the Walnut Street bridge with a radar device that will project the speed of the vehicles on a large billboard. Rush said that the radar will not be used to issue speeding tickets, but to record how many drivers violate the speed limit. Talks between the University and the city about improving the safety of the intersection will be ongoing, she added. "We continue to work with agencies to explore better traffic patterns for safety," Rush said. Post-Baccalaureate student Adam Zion, who was seriously injured last year after being struck by two cars at the treacherous intersection, said he feels the University and the city are moving in the right direction in trying to improve pedestrian safety. "I would approve of any means that the city and Penn could take to stop people from coming down Walnut so quickly," said Zion, whose physical condition has greatly improved since the December 7 accident. He is currently auditing one course at the University and hopes to begin medical school in the fall of 1997. Undergraduate Assembly Chairperson and College senior Lance Rogers agreed that improving the intersection is a necessity. "I think they're making a step in the right direction," he said. "We obviously have a problem there. We need to do whatever it takes to make this a safe intersection." An educational component is also part of a plan to improve safety, Rush said. New employees and new students will continue to be informed of the dangers surrounding certain intersections and students should always be cautious at all intersections and avoid jaywalking.

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